KUALA LUMPUR: City police busted online gambling activities and illegal betting centres secretly operating behind the exteriors of snooker halls across the capital last Saturday, during Op Mega Dadu raids.
The operation was carried out by the City police Anti-Vice, Gambling and Secret Societies Division (D7).
Kuala Lumpur police chief, Datuk Rusdi Mohd Isa said 21 raids were carried out and the team arrested 29 individuals between the ages of 29 and 67.
Three women, believed to be agents, caretakers, and gamblers at the illegal premises, were among those arrested.
"Seven of them were foreigners. We also confiscated various items, including 31 mobile phones, 20 tablets, nine modems, and RM2,378 in cash," he said.
"The modus operandi of this premises are to target regular customers and foreigners to come and gamble at the premise," he said according to Harian Metro.
Rusdi said that the premises at the front are usually snooker centres, but the floors above are used for illegal gambling and 4D writing activities, making it difficult for authorities to catch them.
Harian Metro had previously revealed that the same tactics were detected in several locations across Selangor, where the premises appeared to be snooker centres from the outside, but hidden behind them were online gambling operations.
The Squad Khas Harian Metro, a team of investigative reporters, received a tip-off about these gambling centres from a non-governmental organisation (NGO) and local communities in the respective areas.
Based on the information, the team learnt there are about 100 such premises operating in Selangor.
For three days continuously the team visited these illegal premises between 6pm to 12 midnight and discovered that most of the caretakers of the premises are Bangladeshi nationals or sexily dressed foreign women.
The premise owner often use these women to attract customers, who are majority Muslims.
Teenagers were also spotted at a few of the premises during the observation.
These premises are also equipped with hi-tech surveillance cameras.